Macquarie Countrywide (MCW)

Macquarie CountryWide
’s shares are on the mend, with property funds manager Charter Hall Group in talks to buy the management rights of the shopping centre owner from Macquarie Group.

Analysts believe that both Macquarie CountryWide Trust and its stablemate, Macquarie Office Trust, are likely to be supported in the near term as the spectre of merger and acquisition activity acts as a catalyst for their pricing.

Shares in MCW are up over 16 per cent in the past two weeks reaching its highest level in close to four months on Friday. However, it is trading at discounts to net asset values. JPMorgan analysts said it was unclear whether Charter Hall would look to take on Macquarie’s investments in the trusts that have a combined value of $300 million.

Macquarie CountryWide received a boost after unveiling better than expected property revaluations. The group had nearly half of its assets valued independently and net assets held at 72¢ per security, indicating that recent falls in valuations have slowed.

Goldman Sachs JBWere analyst Simon Wheatley said the revaluations were a “positive outcome" that should give investors comfort about where the underlying value of the group’s portfolio lies in the wake of major sales of shopping centre assets in the US last year.